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# Debugging Slow Builds
Did you know that Ninja writes a log to disk after each build?
To see what kinds of files took the longest for your previous build:
```sh
cd out/Default
# Lives in depot_tools:
post_build_ninja_summary.py
```
Because the build is highly parallelized the `elapsed time` values are usually
not meaningful so the `weighted time` numbers are calculated to approximate
the impact of build steps on wall-clock time.
You can also set `NINJA_SUMMARIZE_BUILD=1` to have this command run
after each `autoninja` invocation. Setting this environment variable also runs
ninja with `-d stats` which causes it to print out internal information such
as StartEdge times, which measures the times to create processes, and it
modifies the `NINJA_STATUS` environment variable to add information such as how
many processes are running at any given time - both are useful for detecting
slow process creation. You can get this last benefit on its own by setting
`NINJA_STATUS=[%r processes, %f/%t @ %o/s : %es ] ` (trailing space is
intentional).
To generate a Chrome trace of your most recent build:
```sh
ninjatracing/ninjatracing out/Default/.ninja_log > trace.json
```
If your build is stuck on a long-running build step you can see what it is by
running `tools/buildstate.py`.
## Slow Bot Builds
Our bots run `ninjatracing` and `post_build_ninja_summary.py` as well.
Find the trace at: `postprocess for reclient > gsutil upload ninja_log > ninja_log`:
* _".ninja_log in table format (full)"_ is for `post_build_ninja_summary.py`.
* _"trace viewer (sort_by_end)"_ is for `ninjatracing`.
## Advanced(ish) Tips
* Use `gn gen --tracelog trace.json` to create a trace for `gn gen`.
* Many Android templates make use of
to optimize incremental builds.
* Set `PRINT_BUILD_EXPLANATIONS=1` to have these commands log which inputs
changed.
* If you suspect files are being rebuilt unnecessarily during incremental
builds:
* Use `ninja -n -d explain` to figure out why ninja thinks a target is dirty.
* Ensure actions are taking advantage of ninja's `restat=1` feature by not
updating timestamps on outputs when their contents do not change.
* E.g. by using [`build_utils.AtomicOutput()`]